Ashes - memories

[age_master]

Warne's "century ball" to poor, tubby, befuddled Gatt in 93.

yeah the 'ball of the century' is one of my earlier memories, a Slater century would be pretty high up there too

 

[Pratters]

Morris dropped? Morris had already played his last Test by then.
It was, though, the beginning of the end for Gower, which was a terrible, terrible shame and a complete waste that so typified the muddled thinking of the early '90s, riddled with personality-clashes such as Gooch-Gower.

I thought Morris was in the team and could have played a match if it was not for the said incident which lead to him playing no more tests. Wrong in remembering it properly on my part then.

 

[tooextracool]

Likewise, the SCG match of 2002\03 had a fantastic creaking pendulum, something I always love to see in cricket. Even the second day of the match at The 'Gabba was good, as Caddick and White cut through the Australian middle-order with surprising skill. We were already out of the game, of course, and the villification Hussain got for that decision at the toss has always burned in me as one of the gravest injustices of my time.

well in hussain's defense it was overcast during the toss, and overcast conditions at brisbane usually lead to something. unfortunately by the time the first ball was bowled the sun was out and teh sky was clear, and FTB hammered our injury hit bowling attack all over the park.
the 2nd day of course instead of bowling far too short, we actually bowled to a plan, and really i'll never forget the way steve waugh played right into our hands against the short ball.

And while it's not The Ashes, my favourite England-Australia ODI apart from the recent Champions Trophy game was the one at Bristol in 2001. The following game had some breathtaking second-innings bowling, too, but it was slightly harder to appreciate the awesome quality because it was a little depressingly familiar.

i actually prefer the 97 ODI series, where we whitewashed australia 3-0, and hollioake hit 2 50s, ended up without an average and scored teh winning runs in all 3 games.
there are 2 more from the carlton and united series in 98/99, the first one which is probably more memorable because hick hit 108 and hammered all the aussie bowlers out of the park as england won by 7 runs
http://www.howstat.com.au/cricket/Statistics/Matches/MatchScorecard_ODI.asp?MatchCode=1466
a closer game though was this low scoring encounter where duckworth lewis came to our advantage:http://www.howstat.com.au/cricket/Statistics/Matches/MatchScorecard_ODI.asp?MatchCode=1462
which had plenty of twists and turns, which includes what is easily mullally best ever international performance and bevan nearly sneaking home another victory

 

[tooextracool]

An ODI, where the key is to score runs compared with battling to save a match when you charge down the wicket for no reason.

it was still a very very poor shot, in a big match situation. 198/4 chasing 232 and we needed less than a run a ball. not the first time we collapsed in a final against australia either.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

In terms of ODIs, the match from the 2003 WC really stands out. It was probably the best of the Bevan trademark chases, alongside the New Years Day one against the West Indies in '96, and one of the greatest ever all-round matches from Bichel, with his 7 wickets and vital runs.

It just had constant twists and turns, from when Knight and Trescothick got England off a great start and then Bichel tore them apart, only to have Flintoff and Stewart manage a competitive total. Then there was Caddick putting Australia well on the back foot before Lehmann and Bevan restored hope, then when the 8th wicket went down with 70 odd still needed, I remember thinking that even with what Bevan had done in similar situations in the past, it was surely over. Then all the way until Bichel smashed that 6 over midwicket in the 49th over it was still England's match. An incredible match, and yet another example of how it's rarely the highest scoring ODIs which are the best to watch.

 

[badgerhair]

Let's see now.

There was wondering who this fellow Willis was when he went on the 70-71 tour, and Boycott averaging 94 as we won 2-0. I think that remains the best Ashes win of my "career".

Bob Massie at Lord's and Underwood at Headingley in 1972.

Denness dropping himself in 74-75.

Lillian Thomson in 1975.

Boycott's return from self-imposed exile in 1977, running out Randall at Trent Bridge but going on to make his ton and then the perfectly scripted hundredth first-class hundred against Australia in a Test at Headingley.

The Ayatollah irritating the hell out of the Australian crowd in 78-79.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[steds]

Michael Atherton victoriously - no wait, that didn't happen...

 

[wpdavid]

Let's see now.

There was wondering who this fellow Willis was when he went on the 70-71 tour, and Boycott averaging 94 as we won 2-0. I think that remains the best Ashes win of my "career".

Bob Massie at Lord's and Underwood at Headingley in 1972.

Denness dropping himself in 74-75.

Lillian Thomson in 1975.

Boycott's return from self-imposed exile in 1977, running out Randall at Trent Bridge but going on to make his ton and then the perfectly scripted hundredth first-class hundred against Australia in a Test at Headingley.

The Ayatollah irritating the hell out of the Australian crowd in 78-79.

Cheers,

Mike

I'd forgotten all about the Ayatollah tag!

1977 was great. Even without Lillee, Aus were pretty good, and 3-0 against that lot would be "my" finest performance (1970/71 was just before I took an interest). I vaguely remember Randall in the third win, which sealed the series. In their first innings, I think, he demolished McCosker's stumps charging in from what seemed like deep extra cover to run him out and then taking the final catch in the second innings and celebrating with cartwheels.

My other Ashes memory from the 70's was David Steele coming from no-where in 1975 to give us a bit of respectability after the hidings we had taken from Lillee, Thomson & Walker. I thought he looked about 60, although he was probably only 35 at the time. A very English hero - you couldn't imagine an Australian cricketer looking like that.

In the 80's, beyond the obvious 1981 events, there was Botham's ridiculous mullett & and all round daft appearance in 1985. I quite liked Engel's comment at the time about how he wasn't sure what Botham looked like, but it sure as hell wasn't Hobbs.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Michael Atherton victoriously - no wait, that didn't happen...

 

[Richard]

An ODI, where the key is to score runs compared with battling to save a match when you charge down the wicket for no reason.

To save a match that had 2-and-a-half days remaining?
There was no possibility whatsoever of that match ending in a draw.

 

[Richard]

Surprise surprise, someone has good memories and someone else decides to make irrelevant points about it.

So... which irrelevant points have I made then?
And come to that... have I once rubbished what someone recalls fondly?

 

[Richard]

well in hussain's defense it was overcast during the toss, and overcast conditions at brisbane usually lead to something. unfortunately by the time the first ball was bowled the sun was out and teh sky was clear, and FTB hammered our injury hit bowling attack all over the park.
the 2nd day of course instead of bowling far too short, we actually bowled to a plan, and really i'll never forget the way steve waugh played right into our hands against the short ball.

FTB hammered us around while being dropped at least 3 times.

i actually prefer the 97 ODI series, where we whitewashed australia 3-0, and hollioake hit 2 50s, ended up without an average and scored teh winning runs in all 3 games.
there are 2 more from the carlton and united series in 98/99, the first one which is probably more memorable because hick hit 108 and hammered all the aussie bowlers out of the park as england won by 7 runs
http://www.howstat.com.au/cricket/Statistics/Matches/MatchScorecard_ODI.asp?MatchCode=1466
a closer game though was this low scoring encounter where duckworth lewis came to our advantage:http://www.howstat.com.au/cricket/Statistics/Matches/MatchScorecard_ODI.asp?MatchCode=1462
which had plenty of twists and turns, which includes what is easily mullally best ever international performance and bevan nearly sneaking home another victory

I might have liked all of them but the first Eng-Aus ODI I saw ball-by-ball was that Bristol one!

 

[Richard]

In terms of ODIs, the match from the 2003 WC really stands out. It was probably the best of the Bevan trademark chases, alongside the New Years Day one against the West Indies in '96, and one of the greatest ever all-round matches from Bichel, with his 7 wickets and vital runs.

It just had constant twists and turns, from when Knight and Trescothick got England off a great start and then Bichel tore them apart, only to have Flintoff and Stewart manage a competitive total. Then there was Caddick putting Australia well on the back foot before Lehmann and Bevan restored hope, then when the 8th wicket went down with 70 odd still needed, I remember thinking that even with what Bevan had done in similar situations in the past, it was surely over. Then all the way until Bichel smashed that 6 over midwicket in the 49th over it was still England's match. An incredible match, and yet another example of how it's rarely the highest scoring ODIs which are the best to watch.

Yes, true, I'd somehow forgotten about that one. Sadly I was only listening to it on the radio, I might recall it more fondly had I been watching it as I was the Nevill Road one. Still, while the WC2003 game was undoubtedly better, the Bristol one wasn't a million miles behind.
And while I was devestated we lost, it's hardly a slight being on the end of the greatest ODI player ever's best-ever innings.

 

[Richard]

Michael Atherton victoriously - no wait, that didn't happen...

'Course it did

 

[marc71178]

So... which irrelevant points have I made then?
And come to that... have I once rubbished what someone recalls fondly?

Butcher's innings that Pratyush recalled as a good memory.

Along comes Richard to make an irrelevant point about being dropped.

 

[Craig]

Which was the logical and sensible decision, given that Stephen Waugh would have done the exact same thing had he won the toss.

Had Michael Vaughan, Matthew Hoggard had held their catches, and hit the stumps, and Simon Jones had learnt to stand on the boundary rope and not walked in, then yes. England still should have batted, it is better to go out there and face the music early on and show the Aussies your not afraid of them, sending them in shows that you are scared of them.

As for the Waugh comment, did he ever say he would have bowled first, because I'm struggling to remember him saying it (if he did). I did watch the toss and Waugh did say he wasn't surprised England would bowl first. I'm not like Corey who probably somehow has footage of the very first Test match back in 1877 hidden away somewhere in his house, so I stand to be corrected if Waug did, but IIRC he didn't?

 

[Jono]

2003- Hussain putting Australia in

LOL!

 

[C_C]

Here are some of my Ashes memories(random):

Watching my very first live Ashes match as a nine year old, i remember Bruce Reid's demolishion job of England in the 2nd Ashes match of 1990.
He bowled beautifully with excellent movement and bounce. The way he got Atherton both times in the match stand out to me. If i remember correctly,first innings it was a beautiful outswinger pitching on middle and bouncing a bit that took Atherton's edge and in the second innings, he pitched one outside off that came back a long way to take the inside edge and go to the keeper.
Another memory from the same series is of Mark Waugh comming in at something like 100/4 in the 3rd or 4th match and scoring a ton, with excellent support from Greg Matthews.

Gooch's valient 100 in the final innings of 1993 opening ashes match is another one.

Many others have already been mentioned.

 

[Arjun]

Okay we have been unfortunate to be in a period when Ashes havent been as exciting as its glorious past was with Australia streamrolling Englands series after series.

What's so exciting about Australia steamrolling England series after series? It's dull, boring, and for someone who likes to watch competitive matches, dreadful. Besides, it still happens these days. Personally, I would prefer a series that keeps tilting the balance either way and goes down to the wire- hopefully that's how the forthcoming Ashes series will go.

 

[Arjun]

Here are some scenes that I can remember, particularly from the last series-

• Brett Lee bowling snorters at the English batsmen at Perth.
• Caddick's 10-wicket-haul in Sydney.
• Steve Waugh answering his critics yet again with a century.
• Vaughan's golden run.
• Trescothick's struggles. Dreadful.
• Hussain's double century (98?).